So much was damaged, the paths were gone, obliterated by the weight of the wave. The old fox had seen many things in his time, but certainly never anything quite like a wave. He picked his way away from the two-legs and their mounts. There would be time for them later. He was curious to see if the vixen had survived.

He found his way quickly through the debris, stopping on occassion to shake off a cascade of water, or to lick at a spot on his flank, or leg. His fur was matted down against his body, and clung uncomfortably. An hour basking on a hot rock in the light of the sun would do nicely, but tat too could wait.

He gave a small yip of excitment, he wandered across her track. He could smell her, heading away from him. He started to follow the track and could smell her companion return also. Neither smelled hurt. That was good. He followed until the debris lessened, and larger trees were toppled, there was muddy ash underpaw. This was where the fire was, and the wave was close by in origin. He entered the newly created clearing and found the vixen, her companion, and a two-legs female that smelled of lightning and moonlight.

Should they look to see him, they would see a soggy brownish red fox, obviously having seen much more pleasant days. He was beyond the normal bounds of her territory, but all of his markers were gone, washed away, new territory would have to be declared before he could demand submission. Curiosity and a measure of though produced something entirely new to the old fox. Patience.

Callista stood staring at the three foxes which now stood before her, she got to her knees and whispered in a faint voice "I am sorry, for ruining your forest it seems to me" Callista looked up and looked around the wreckage but countinued to speack "that my wave did more damage then the fire did" her eyes lowered to the floor, her knees know sopping wet "if there is anything that i can do to fix the forest up a bit i have a small amount of healing powers for both objects and human's including animals, i also have the ability, to ask the sun to aid you to dry the floors"

She awaited to see what the foxes would do, she was nervous she didn't know wether they would attack her or maybe assist her on her journey which she had been on before the fire had come upon her, she had been searching for her home-land. Long ago she had lost her memory after having a large bang on the head, and know piece by piece it was all coming back to her, she had rembered that she had a guardian some sort of dog-wolf type thing, or maybe even a fox, she had been taken far far away from her home-land because of the war which was upon the city, or what she had known to be a city, she had rembered that her father had sent her away with her guardian, Callista screwed up her eyes, trying to remeber more about this guardian, but for some reason she felt comfortable around these three, her voice once again rang out "I am Callista, i am an elf warrior," she looked surprised at these words, she had never told anyone this before, partly because she did not remeber it till now,

The old fox twitched his nose, tasted her smell. She had a clean smell under that of lightning and moonlight, and he smelled no malice, but the faint spice of fear. he walked closer to her, his nose twitching still as he smelled her closer.

The scent of her boots, where she had come from. The smell of her clothing, her possessions, all of it created a picture in his mind. A traveler, and she carried none of the acrid smell that he had passed among the ashes. He sniffed her hand, close enough to touch...

He walked behind her. The fear smell rose some, but she remained calm. A hint of mischief curled his lips, even a small nip on the heel might send her running, or into a panic. He didnt feel like chasing her though it would be fun, like flushing the hares and chasing them to ground. He was still sore from the wave and being battered by the trees and such he hit before catching himself in a safe spot.

He caught the she-smell. Something inside his mind uncurled at that, something very much not vulpine, something to do with the two-legs shape, that shape he had only worn a single time and never since. He moved away from her, suddenly confused. Two-leg and fox instinct mangled one another. Agitated with himself, he began to pant.

The curiosity must be a trait of the two-leg, as his fox insticnt told him to leave, to run away. Let the vixen, and her companion, and the elf-she deal with what they were doing. The curious instinct wanted to stay...to smell them more, and be close to them.

Callista shoke slightly as she sat and let the fox sniff around her, something called to her keep "keep them close to you, keep them near, get to now them, keep them close" the voice began to scream in her ears getting louder and louder then stopping as the fox stepped away, she gasped as she shook her head. "What is it fox what do you smell" she asked, she felt rather stupid talking to a fox knowing all to well that it couldn't understand a word she was saying, or could it?

The old fox looked at her, his nose flairing. He understood her words, but there really wasnt a good way to answer. If she were a fox there would be no question, she would know what he smelled, what he smelled for. The scent of fear, or danger, or wrongness, or the smell of where she had come from, what it was like there.

He wanted to answer, but doing so would mean assuming the two-leg form, something he despized, with it's dead nose, and bumbling height. He feared the way his ears were muffled, and his eyes were blinded by the bright light. It was a wonder that the two-legs survived as they did, but seeing their handicaps he could understand why they were so angry and destructive.

He looked back to the vixen...and back to the elf. He panted more, agitated by his inner conflict. Run, or change: the options presented themselves to him. He should leave now, forget them, hunt for dinner. Or he should assume the two-legs form and their grunting language to speak with her, perhaps even with the vixen. Maybe she would assume the two-legs form, not that he needed her to change shape to speak with her.

He closed his eyes and let the moon ripple run through him. He felt his muscles loosen, gain a fluid quality as the bones underneath grew and straightened. There was a thrill as the flesh swole, and muscles grew considerably larger, as almost every two-leg was much larger than any fox.

He stood up, wrapped in the form of a two-legs. The world of smell faded, except for the tang of ash, and the general wet smell. He couldnt smell either of the females. He felt defenceless, naked without a coat of fine fur to protect him, keep him warm and dry. Well dry as it could in a torrent of water. The elf stood a few feet away from a young man with wild eyes, and long hair, and a good beard and mustache though she couldnt guess his age more than twenty years. He was completely naked.

Callista for some reason did not seem to surprised, for some reason deep in her heart she was expecting something like this, she scanned the other two maybe they were the same, she giggled slightly as the man stood up straight, leaning over she picked up her cloack and handed it to him as if an offering of peace "here this should keep you warm, for the moment! what is your name?"Callista asked, well almost comanded, but she did not mean for it to turn out that way, she didn't wait for an answer "what were you sniffing me for? what did you smell?" she again looked towards the other two still standing motionless opposite them.

The old fox stared at the garment before trying to put it on. He wrapped it around his midsection in a manner similar to tying a bath towel about the waste. He looked at the elf again, his eyes were a radiant amber, almost like sunlight.

"I dont have a name..." he said after a stuttering pause, the words unfamiliar and strange in his mouth. "I am just an old fox..." he said, for a human he was young, barely more than newly come to manhood, but for a fox his twenty or so years made him venerable, ancient among the vulpines.

"I cant smell much now, ash and wet. I was smelling you, your smell is like a name, how I would know you from another. If you were a fox you would do the same, smell me to learn my smell." The words were rougly put together, his movements were awkward and stiff.

She took a few steps forward curious to now more, curious to find out as much as she could about this old fox and his companions, "you have no name! then i shall call you fox, for a nickname, is that ok with you?"she shrugged and countinued "did you find what you were sniffing for, fox?" she paused and awaited his answer.

"Fox is a good name..." Fox said, this elf was beautiful, now that he stood as high as she did he could see into her eyes, and her her face. His own face felt scratchy, and well is should. It was a wild bramble of hair. Had he ever laid eyes on a lion he would think that he looked like one, as a human. "What is your name?" he asked.

"I know you are not an evil person, but you have some fear. I also know how you arrived here. You came across a high ridge, through a gap in the stone. There was a shallow valley on the other side, blackberries grow there, thick as the last joint of my thumb. I like to eat them sometimes, I know the smell of the land there. You might still have some, or at least carried a few away from that place. Then you crossed the second stream, where the bank on both sides is taken by the ivy. It too has a smell that will cling to a person, it is a wooden, dry smell, even when wet.

"I can also tell that you dont eat much meat, meat eaters have a different smell also. It is a slightly bitter smell, like dried blood. Your smell is sweet, you eat alot of fruit, like the berries and the other fruits that come from the trees."

"So I guess I did find what I was sniffing for." Fox said. He looked back at the vixen and her companion.

"I followed her, I saw her first as a two-legs like you, with her companion. Then she became a vixen, a she fox. I have never met another like me, another who change fox shape. I am much curious to speak with her, maybe she knows more of what I am." He said.

Callista moved her head to the side listening intently to every word which came out of fox's mouth, her ebony hair fell down the side of her face still a little damp from the wave, "My name is Callista" how did he know all this, she thought to herself, her mind going from place to place searching for this lost information, suddenly her face lit up, she bent down picked up her small satchel and opened one of the pocket's, out of this pocket she pulled 3 largeish berries, she looked at them in her hand, but her eyes traveled up to the scar on her arm, she stroked it gently with her nimble fingers, her gaze went back to fox as she handed him the berries "these berries?" she asked, she again searched for the information he had just told her, she rembered the high ridge and the gap in the stone, but that was all she could remeber, she gazed into the eyes of fox as she thought about what he said, her deep blue eyes seemed to be searching his soul for something, something hidden, something formiliar in him, something that she would remeber but only from him, but she found nothing, she sighed as her eyes once again fell to the floor, as if looking for something to occupy her, his eyes, his beutiful eyes she thought to herself

Asheel on the other hand actually WAS searching his soul. And Callista's and Fletch's. He was very annoyed. Partly at himself for missing all three of them. He had just overlooked two as foxes, and the third, well he didn't even know. But they had stopped his fire. He was very annoyed about that. Extremely so.he watched them talk for only a few moments after mounting his horse, and then, the three rode off. These nature watchers would die, and then they would serve him. All three had weapons drawn as they approached the small meeting site on horseback (read prior posts for descriptions).

Asheel was in the center, Thanatos was to the left, and Yama hung back to the far right.

Logged

Rock may break, Ice may melt, and Fire may suffocate, but in the end Darkness consumes all, and so, it shall consume You.

The bounty hunter looked dumbfounded at the group, what was wrong, didn't his attack work? He looked at his gun it seemed to be in working order so what was the deal? The group had completely ignored the stun bolts like it wasn't there. Maybe the this planet had strange electro magnetic fields and he thought he saw the blasts. He stepped out of the muddy brush and into the line of sight of the group. He stashed the gun on a thigh mounted holster. "By the power invested in me Galactic Bounty Commission, I serve all of your bounties. Fletch Refox, Bram, and you known as 'Fox'. You can some quietly or we can do this hard way." The Bounty HunterÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s voice had a flat metallic ring that sounded lifeless. He tapped his wrist twice and two steel grey blades slide out from the left and right bracers. The blades remained connected to the bracers at the base and had a surrogated edge on the outside and a sleek blade on the other. The bounty hunter held up one hand with and three fingers up, "Three..."

Startled, Fox dropped the cloak and reduced back to his vulpine form. Who was this monster? Some sort of two-leg mutant? Smells assaulted him as he regained his animal senses. The two-legs had a horrible smell, nothing natural, all hard and spiky smells, like the tang of ash, and the stranger smell of something he didnt understand, strange materials. He smelled the other two-legs as well, the ones who started the fire. The horse smell was present also, they were mounted.

Panic welled up for a moment, caught between a bear and a pack of wolves. There was only one thing to do, let the bear handle the wolves. Fox bolted for the underbrush, zig-zagging to avoid anything the two-legs might throw towards him. Two-legs were infamous for throwing things, and shooting things with arrows and such.

This was a dangerous game, but he rounded in front of the trio of would be arsonists and barked a challenge at them, kicked dirt towards them with his back feet. He couldnt think of any other insults to use. He bolted back into the brush, hopefull that the three horsemen would give chase. He would lead them into the arms of the strange human.

Callista moved in front of the foxes "why do you need them" she shouted to the bounty hunter "what wrong have they done" she had watched as fox had ran out of the glade and then had came bolting back in again "leave them be" called out callista once again, she heared the faint footsteps of the horses coming closer, as the metal things flew towards them Callista pulled out a long sword from underneath her bag, the sound of metal hitting metal, echoed through the forest as the metal blades bounced of of the blade and fell harmlessly to the floor,

The bounty hunter's single monocule visor settled on the elvish woman. "That is not my problem, someone has hired me to catch them, I have a reputation to maintain. Two.." The wind rustled in the tree and and a small triangle shaped cannon telescoped out of hunter's right shoulder and sent a three pulse burst of energy at the 'Fox' on the same step the hunter leapt forward at the elvsh swordsman. His left arm flailed out and slashed at her long sword while the other thrusted forward to impale her throat.

The triple blast of energy ripped past Fox, one blast removing the last part of his tail. He yelped in pain as the hair and flesh were vaporized by the energy packets. Fox, driven now by animal instinct vanished into the remnant of the brush, avoiding the fiery arrows of the vicious smelling 'bounty hunter'. There was a tingle of curiosity, who would have reason to send such an abomination into the wood for the main purpose of hunting down and elf, and two foxes? It was madness.

There was a grinding sound, and the canopy overhead shuddered, raining leaves and small branches down on those gathered in the glade. One of the larger trees that had survived the tidal wave groaned as it's base, splintered by the errant blasts from the bounty hunter, surrendered to gravity. The tree fell, picking up speed as it went, coming down in an avalanche of bark, and wood.

The Fox was startled, deadfalls came as predictable as lighting, and just as escapable. He felt a smile on his muzzle as he saw the tree would crush the foul two-legs who had shot off his tail.

The tree came out of nowhere it seemed and hit with enough force that the glancing blow sheared the whole right side of the shoulder plate armor off and knocked off the spohisticated sensor and thermal imaging system attena off the helmet. The glancing blow deflected the tree's course and it fell slighty aside and missed pulping the hunter.

"Son of a &^%$@." he muttered. He landed face down behind the tree from the elf and others. Steroid needles mounted in a small medical pack on his pack started pumping stimulants into him. The right side blade was bent nearly ninety degrees. He ejected the blade and retracted the other. As the steriods and massive painkillers courseed into him he got shakily to his knees. With his left handed he pulled out his gun. The helmet was dark and the screen cracked. He tapped three buttons under his chin and pulled a emergancy release. He grabbed a grip behind the his head and pulled the helmet off. It weighed around eighty pounds and the hunter let it drop to the ground.

He had dark hazel eyes brown hair shot with silver hairs. His face had several scars and chunks out of it, the most notable was a centimeter size chunk out of his nose bridge. The hunter grunted then slipped a slide on the gun that switched it from the clip of stunbolts mounted on right side to the banna clip he pulled from his belt and mounted on top. Twenty solid bore 12mm armor piercing round clicked into place. He set the gun beside the tree of a sec then picked up the helmet and chucked it at the group he picked the gun and slid/jumped over a branch and stood up and let loose with anoter four round burst. Four loud flat cracks cut hte air then the hunter dove behind his cover again.

Callista had a norrow escape from the bountyhunter slicing her, because of the tree, but now a gun, she wasn't quick enough 2 bullets shot through her one in her arm, and one just slicing in her side, Callista Yelped in pain as blood poured out of both shots, she fell to the floor clutching her side, there was nothing she could do, but sit and wait, would the foxes help her or would they just sit and watch as she got destroyed in one fail swoop?

Fox bolted again, excertion staring to burn in his legs. The roar of the falling tree covered any sound he could make, perhaps a chance to sneak around behind the monster would give him a chance to attack. Four sharp blasts echoed over the receding sound of the deadfall. The elf cried out, and Fox could smell blood, likely her blood.

He saw the bounty hunter, strange helmet removed. Under the strange materials he was a normal two-legs. His scent was changed, there was the smell of injury, and a strange smell, something sharper, and more invasive than the smell of the things black turtle-like carapace.

The bounty hunter was crouched down behind some cover, or at least cover from the clearing. The wind carried the smell of the weapon, a tangy acrid smell that he often associated with lightning. It also carried the scent of the fox away from the bounty hunter.

Fox gathered his legs under him and lept towards the back of the two-legs head. Teeth bared he sought out the soft yielding flesh of the nape of the neck, the ear, or the even softer flesh of the face.

Callista tried to pull herself to her weapons, the pain in her side excrutiating, she managed to pull her self to her equipment she searched through the pockets of her cloack which fox dropped in his suprise, Callista picked out a small vial full with a purple bubbling liquid she bit the cork off and spat it in the other direction, she tipped some into both of the gunshot wounds, she screamed as the liquid saught out the bullets, it found them and instently began to dissolve them, it had done its job again she searched through the pockets and pulled out another vial this time full with a yellow liquid she again pulled out the cork with her teeth, but this time she didnt tip it onto the wounds she drank it, in one large gulp, it was gone, now all she had to do was wait, the yellow liquid was a healing potion to rid someone of any pain, but it took a while to work

Asheel was angry. His fire had been destroyed, and now he had been taunted. He was very angry. He rode after the wolf, and, knowing that this was a trap, right into the area the bounty hunter was. He came from the back left, and although if he had seen the hunter before taking his swing he probably would have held back a little first, his morningstar was already in motion. Yama had let fly with an arrow at the hunter, and Thanatos and his large bastard sword were following up asheel and the morningstar that was travelling at the hunters head.

Logged

Rock may break, Ice may melt, and Fire may suffocate, but in the end Darkness consumes all, and so, it shall consume You.